1. Field
Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor design technology and, more particularly, to an electronic device supporting a counting operation and an electronic system including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Counting circuits may be used for various electronic devices to convert physical parameters, such as light intensity, sound intensity or time, into digital signals.
For example, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor acquires an image using semiconductors that respond to incident light, analog-to-digital converters (ADC) to convert analog signals (i.e., a pixel signal) outputted from a pixel array into digital signals. An ADC may include a counting circuit that performs counting operations using a clock signal.
The operating speed and power consumption of the counting circuit have a direct influence on the performance of a device or system including the counting circuit.
For example, the number of counting circuits included in the CMOS image sensor may increase depending on the resolution of the CMOS image sensor. As the number of counting circuits increases, the operating speed and power consumption of the counting circuits may become an important factor in determining overall performance of the CMOS image sensor.